TSN.ca wrote:Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is "outraged" that his club will be without Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson for the remainder of the season.

Melnyk spoke to the Ottawa Sun on Thursday and wondered aloud why Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke, whose skate blade cut Karlsson's achilles tendon on Wednesday night, was still allowed to play in the league after being suspended by the NHL five times previously.

"I'm very upset. Actually I'm more than upset; I'm outraged that in this day and age this continues," said Melnyk. "Whether it's accidental or not, that's not our job to judge. That's why the NHL is there to assess it.

"This guy should be kicked ... He doesn't belong in the league. He belongs somewhere where the goons play," Melnyk told the Sun. "Get him in the Central League. He can be a $60,000-a-year guy playing pick-up hockey there."

This isn't the first time that Melnyk has expressed his thoughts on handing out lifetime bans to repeat offenders. In 2010, Jason Spezza suffered a shoulder injury after being hit by Penguins forward Kris Letang, and Melynk spoke out after that incident as well.

"(Cooke has) got one purpose. I remember when this happened with Spezza. I said, 'If these are the rules, I just want to know.' We'll play with the same rules. Make sure you have one or two goons whose job is to do this either intentionally or unintentionally.

"I'm OK with it, just tell me I'm OK with it. I play by the rules. I'm just shocked an organization would do this," added Melnyk.

Melynk also told the Sun that he contacted the league after Karlsson's injury and stated that he thought Cooke should have been suspended for the incident.

"I can't comment on (Cooke not getting suspended) only because it's not helpful for anybody," Melnyk stated. "They came to their conclusions and it's not going to change anything."

Despite the challenges of losing Spezza and Karlsson to significant injuries and not having defenceman Jared Cowen for the entire year due to hip surgery, Melynk expressed his belief to the Sun that his team can make the playoffs.

"I really believe with fan support that this is a team that has the motivation and the veterans that can motivate the young ones, that we can pull together and I believe that we can pull this off. These guys can use this to rally around this tragedy.

I understand his frustration, and Cooke has certainly earned his reputation. I think it's completely out of line for an owner to speak out like this on pretty much anything, though.

That said, this statement is absurd:

"Whether it's accidental or not, that's not our job to judge. That's why the NHL is there to assess it.

"This guy should be kicked ... He doesn't belong in the league. He belongs somewhere where the goons play," Melnyk told the Sun. "Get him in the Central League. He can be a $60,000-a-year guy playing pick-up hockey there."

Clearly, he doesn't think it is an accident, so why not say so? Say "he did it on purpose, and he should be kicked out of the league." Otherwise, the owner absurdly suggests that "if it was an accident, he still deserves to be kicked out of the league."

Ottawa makes it sound like they were the number 1 seed right now, they had no chance of winning the cup this year, fringe playoff team at best. It sucks. He's going to miss like 30 games only because of the short season. Isn't Spezza out with a serious injury as well? Just devote the season to Alfreddson, give the C to Spezza next year and move on...

I understand the anger/frustration...this will hit his pocketbook pretty hard, his star attraction is out and it probably will cost him playoff revenues...

What I don't understand is why he should be kicked out of the league if it's accidental or not...? At least lie and say Cooke did it on purpose and he should be banned...not "things happen...and they include lifetime bans" - no one got kicked out of the league when incidents with Zednik and Malarchuk happened...

I don't mind him being outraged, I just don't get the rationale behind the request...

mikey287 wrote:I understand the anger/frustration...this will hit his pocketbook pretty hard, his star attraction is out and it probably will cost him playoff revenues...

What I don't understand is why he should be kicked out of the league if it's accidental or not...? At least lie and say Cooke did it on purpose and he should be banned...not "things happen...and they include lifetime bans" - no one got kicked out of the league when incidents with Zednik and Malarchuk happened...

I don't mind him being outraged, I just don't get the rationale behind the request...

mikey287 wrote:I understand the anger/frustration...this will hit his pocketbook pretty hard, his star attraction is out and it probably will cost him playoff revenues...

What I don't understand is why he should be kicked out of the league if it's accidental or not...? At least lie and say Cooke did it on purpose and he should be banned...not "things happen...and they include lifetime bans" - no one got kicked out of the league when incidents with Zednik and Malarchuk happened...

I don't mind him being outraged, I just don't get the rationale behind the request...

I wonder if he felt Hossa should have had a lifetime ban when he chopped Berard's eye out?

That's the second Chris Neil knock, and while I don't love him and he's an enforcer type player, he's actually got a pretty clean rap sheet. In fact, has he ever been suspended for anything ever? He's a by-the-code guy pretty much and I even support what he did to Cooke after the game to be honest...a star player got hurt, Neil wanted to take him to task for it, accidental or not, Neil should have gone over and started pushing him around...show that he cares about his teammate...the game was over, why not? And I'm not even a fan of fighting really...but Neil is a pretty stand-up guy actually...

Melnyk makes of a fool of himself enough in the article, no reason to drag anything else into it really...

He should be fined. He's an owner who is responsible through the commissioner he hires to make the rules; yet be acts like he has no influence. To be acting in such a way publicly instead of discreetly leads me to believe the other owners think he's an idiot.